A pattern of harassment by Coke

SINALTRAINAL has issued a "Communique to all of the labour, popular, 
peasant, and non-governmental human rights organisations, and the 
population in general". It contains 110 citations, of which the following 
relate specifically to SINALTRAINAL President Javier Correa:

1) November 1993: a man in his 20s tried to get in the car Javier Correa's 
wife was driving. Two days later, two men were seen following her.

2) May 15, 1995: Javier Correa and Gonzalo Quijano Mendoza, President of 
the Soledad section of SINALTRAINAL, were detained by the National Police 
around 3 pm at the entrance of the Coca-Cola plant in Barranquilla, where 
they were giving a report about collective bargaining negotiations. They 
were accused of being guerrillas and released hours later.

3) November 7, 1995: the Coca-Cola manager in Bucaramanga, Jose Ignacio 
Quiroga, threatened that Javier Correa and two other leaders "would pay" 
for having participated in a hunger strike. Correa and Luis Eduardo Garcia 
were accused of being terrorists. Garcia was jailed and an arrest order was 
issued for Correa on March 6, 1996.

4) March 6, 1996: Garcia, Alvaro Gonzalez and Domingo Florez, SINALTRAINAL 
leaders and Coca-Cola employees in Bucaramanga, were detained and turned 
over to the regional prosecutor's office in Cucuta. Also, Correa and Sergio 
Alexander Lopez were arrested.

5) After March 6, 1996: two unknown, heavily-armed men, who were travelling 
in a white car, came to Correa's house and asked about his whereabouts.

6) In 1996 and 1997: Correa's house was constantly besieged by unknown 
persons driving around it in cars and motorcycles.

7) March 3, 1999: a judge dismissed a slander charge against an admitted 
paramilitary who falsely accused Correa of being a guerrilla.

8) July 31, 2000: Coca-Cola manager Carlos Canas filed insult, slander, and 
criminal conspiracy charges against Correa, Efrain Guerrero, Alvaro 
Gonzalez, and others. A year later, July 4, 2001, all were declared 
innocent of the charges by the prosecutor's office.

In this era of globalised capital, the labour movement has found it 
necessary to globalise.

In addition to support from the USWA and International Labour Rights Fund, 
other expressions of solidarity are being heard here in the US.

Spontaneous acts boycotting Coca-Cola products by children who heard 
SINALTRAINAL's message were reported in Atlanta in July, and pipefitters in 
San Jose, Calif., are boycotting Coke.

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Article may be found at:

http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/1681/

People's Weekly World paper of Communist Party USA